The Next Summer
by RedSox2006
Summary: The sequel to 'A Summer TO Remember' please review! What happens the summer after Erin and Colin meet?
1. Wishes come true

Wishes come true

I picked up the phone receiver and put it down. Again, I picked it up and put it down.

"Uhh!" I said aloud.

Colin Porter and I spent last summer together, during the end, we started going out. We visited each other all through the school year and called each other every day. But for the past month, Colin hasnt been returning my calls and now wont even answer the phone.

I, Erin Miller, was worried for 2 main reasons; Colin might be cheating on me (I doubted that), or his father might have come back.

Colins dad was a drunk, violent old man who was very abusive to Colin and his mother. Last year he ran off after hitting Colin and hasnt been heard of...yet.

I was going back to her grandmothers house in California, in 2 weeks, so I shouldnt stay worried for to long. Id become reacquainted with te sandlot guys, probably see Jacob Vandeborne, who tried to have sex with me last year, and maybe even fight with Stacie Harps, a 'friend' who tried to take Colin away from me.

After 10 more minutes of debating with myself, I decided to call him.

"555-1287"

"BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...Hi, youve reached the Porters sorry we cant come to the phone right now, but leave your name, number, and a message, and well get back to you." I loved hearing his voice, even if only on an answering machine.

"Hey Colin, its Erin again, call me back as soon as you get this message." I slammed down the receiver. "Shoulda known." I said. I must have been screaming it actually, because, my brother came in and asked,

"Whats all the screaming about?"

"Nothing!" I threw my pillow at him. "Get out Robbie!"

"Okay, okay," he said "But you gotta answer my question."

"What?" I rolled my eyes. I hated playing these games with him.

"Guess who just accepted into U.C.L.A?"

"Hmm, tough one, now leave!"

Robbie had been looking all over the country to try and find a good college to go to. He had been offered scholarships for playing baseball from 10 different schools, hes always dreamed of living in California, so it surprised her very little that he chose to go to U.C.L.A.

"I can see that you could care less. So Ill just go call Julie and tel her." he slammed the door and marched downstairs to call his girlfriend.

I coulndt help but to think about Colin now, Robbie was the reason she met Colin, he has taught her how to play baseball and she met him through a baseball team. She continued to make up wild excuses why he wouldnt be answering his phone.

"Ahh, this isnt helping at all." she said to herself. "If only I could go to grandmas earlier."

Surprising enough, Erins mom came into her room at that moment with some good news.

"Erin, Im sorry, but we have to leave 2 weeks early for Robbies orientation. So pack youre stuff were leaving for grandmas first thing in the morning."

A smile spread across my face. "Yes!! Thanks mom! I love you!" I know that sounded really weird, but I didnt care, I was going to see Colin tomorrow!

I had packed half of my closet, bathroom, and bedroom in 4 suitcases. Last year I only spent 2 months at my grandmas and this year it was going to be 50 days longer. I had trouble falling asleep. I could only think about every thing that happened last year.

I finally fell asleep around 1 a.m. I had a dream about playing baseball on the sandlot against the Pirates, my teams arch rivals. We were up by 1 point an Jacob Vandeborne was up to bat he swung and hit the ball strait at my face! I had to go to the hospital and get my nose removed.

I woke up and my nose hurt, and I couldnt remember why. Then I remembered my dream. I checked just to make sure it was still there. Laughing to myself, I sat down and poured myself a bowl of cereal. Just then my mom and dad came down and told me to go put my things in the car, we were leaving in 15 minutes. So much for eating, I thought to myself. Im always coming last in this family. Always gotta think about Robbie. 'Thats why I cant wait to go to Grandmas today. Shes strict, but she always gives me the attention I think I deserve.


	2. To Grandmothers House we go

To Grandmothers house we go

5 hours after being crammed in a car with my mom, dad, and smelly brother were finally came to the city my grandmother lives in. We drove past the mall that she owns, the school, and Colins trailer park. I nearly jumped out of my seat when I realized that we were by his house.

My mom asked me what I was looking at when she caught me staring out my window.

"Nothing mom." She didnt know about Colin and I. I knew she, let alone my dad would never approve of him. He wasnt a bad kid, he just came from a bad part of town.

We pulled up to the drive way and my mom came up to the door to say goodbye. I remembered vividly that this was where Id first seen Colin. I looked around to see if possibly he was standing on the same street corner. No, he wasnt there. Just then the door opened.

"Hello Marcie! Erin! How are you?" it was my one and only, grandma.

"Im good." I said trying to go inside.

"Looking forward to playing ball again this summer Erin? I know those boys have missed you on their team." she smiled, and I frowned.

"Boys? Baseball?" great, my mom had been paying attention. Now I would have to explain everything to her... Or not...

"No mom you see, last year I made friends by hanging out at baseball games, and I used to keep score and stuff for this team, and I became friends with them. Thats all."

"Oh, okay. Well I have to go. We have to be in Los Angeles by morning."

"Okay, bye mom." 'Smooth' I said to myself.

"Bye honey. I love you!"

Grandma shut the door as I walked in. It was the same house, with the white leather furniture, and ruby red walls. The huge kitchen, and dining room. Grandma may be old, but she had good taste.

I walked up to my room. Set my stuff down and just stared. So much had happened in this room. I then looked at my watch. It was only 1:00. I still had half a day left.

Without unpacking, I ran down to my Grandma and told her I was going out to try and find some friends. She said it was okay but she wasnt going to be home from 6 to 12. She had a business meeting to go to.

I ran out the door and thought, 'If I can find Colin, and everything is alright, we can come back here, for 6 hours!'

'But where to go first?' I started down the street. "The sandlot! Of course!" I started running to the towns oldest, run down baseball field called the Sandlot. The team that played, Colins team, didnt have a name, they werent part of any league. They just loved to play. Lucky for me, their were two people on the field passing, I hoped I knew them, walking up to the slowly, they turned to look at me. They then started talking to each other and then called out,

"Erin!" I began to run to them. It was Ollie Kliner, and Kyle Patterson, Colins best friends.

"Hi you guys!" I gave them each a big hug. "Whats up?"

"Erin I thought you werent coming back for another 2 weeks." asked Ollie.

"Yeah, well my brother had to leave early so he could go to orientation for school. So hear I am" I looked around, everything was still the same, the broken down dug out and beat up field. Id missed it a lot.

"Um, Erin, we have to tell you something."

"About Colin?" I said anxiously.

"Yeah." said Kyle. "Well, he kind of ran away." he gulped. "No one knows where he his. His mom could really care less, kind of a druggie she is now the his dad left."

"Weve all been really worried, but nobody has seen him, we all just assumed he ran away especially after last year." Ollie said.

"Oh my god! What if something happened to him?! What if his dad found him! Where could he have gone?" I was crying by now. But then I remembered where Colin had gone the last time he ran away. I looked up at the old treehouse looking over the nearest houses backyard. I began to run to it.

"Erin hes not in there!" I heard Ollie yell at me But I didnt care.

I started climbing the wooden steps leading to the top. I got there and looked around. Nothing. He wasnt there, nothing was, except for an old box of cookies.

I broke down then and there, I couldnt take it any more. I looked toward to coming back here all year to see Colin, and he had disappeared.

Just then Kyle came up behind me, he put a hand on my shoulder.

"How long has be been gone?" I mumbled through my tears.

"Almost 5 weeks now." I couldnt believe it.

Colin Porter, the first guy Ive ever loved was gone, no where to be seen or heard of.

Two weeks later...

I woke up and walked down stairs to get my regular bagel and cup of orange juice. Looking at a schedule on my refrigerator I saw that my grandmother had a meeting today from 6 to 11.

'Wonderful.' I thought to myself. ' I get to be locked up in the house for another 5 hours'.

Ever since I heard about Colin disappearing, I hadnt went anywhere with my friends, I hadnt played any baseball or did anything that reminded me of Colin. It was hard, because all of the guys kept coming over and tried to get me to come outside. The sun had been shining bright, every day that Ive been here, but my skin was as pale as the white linoleum on the kitchen floor.

I went upstairs and put on a tee shirt, and some jeans, I was freezing, and decided to read a book.

_Lush_

_by Natasha Friend_

_A girl grows up with an alcoholic father and tries to protect her little brother from the abusive man._

Thats all of the description I read, Everything I did anymore reminded me of Colin. I was beginning to get depressed. I had already read all of the books in the house at least twice, so I decided to go to the store and look for something else to occupy myself with.

I left the house with a crisp twenty-dollar bill in my hand. Turning down the street, I tried to remember where the closest store was. I did, and when I got to the parking lot I saw Kyle standing with Ollie drinking sodas.

"Look whos decided to come out for some fresh air Kyle." Ollie said, a smile spread across his face.

"Whats up Erin?"

"Nothing Kyle. Nothing, Im just getting some new books to read."

"Well, if you feel like it, were all meeting at the Sandlot later, why dont you stop by and say hi to all the guys?"

"I dont know, I dont really feel like it today guys. Ill see you later." I walked into the store. I never really felt like doing anything anymore. I felt like there was no reason to have fun, because of Colin.

I went to the book section of the store and what do you know? I see my very least favorite person standing there with his baseball groupies.

"Hey baby, you miss me?" Jacob Vandeborne, was to most stuck-up, perverted, show off there ever was.

"No." I gave him a nasty look and continued searching for a good book.

"Oh come on, remember last year? That was great wasnt it? Dont be in denial about it. Its okay to admit it. We had something special."

He walked over to me and tried to grab me.

"Get away you freak!" I ran out of the store with tears welling up in my eyes.

I went back home and lay on my bed and cried for the rest of the night. I hated my life. Why did Colin have to run away like that? He has made me miserable.

Tap tap tap tap

I heard on my door. The door leading to my balcony outside. I didnt want to look, it was probably just Ollie trying to get her to come outside again. But just incase...

"COLIN!" I couldnt believe it! Colin Porter, my Colin Porter was standing outside my window. I ran up to the door and opened it.

"Oh my god! I thought- What happened? Where were you? Are you okay? Why havent you come sooner?" Questions started pouring out of my mouth. I didnt mean to bombard him with all of my questions, it just happened. I was so worried about him.

"Erin, its okay. Im fine." He was covered in dirt, his old baseball shirt was ripped and grass stained.

"What happened to you?" I motioned for him to come and sit next to me on my bed.

"Well, first off" before he said anything more, he leaned over and kissed me . " I had to do that. Second, okay, Erin, my dad, he came back."

"Yeah I figured."

"But the first time he came back, nobody but me knew about it. MY mom, is kinda messed up right now and she wasn home to know. But about a month ago, my dad came back, drunk, as usual, and stormed into the house. I was sleeping on the couch at the time and was startled to see him standing over me." Colin took a breath and continued. "He slapped me for being a bad son, and he never wanted to see me again. He said, if I was a good boy I would have stopped my mom from cheating on him."

"Of course I didnt know about my mom, I knew she did it before, but the way he made it sound, shed been doing it with a whole bunch of people while he was gone. Then I told him I didnt know anything about her. And He hit me again. My mom goes absent for about days at a time, and I wasnt safe at all in my house so I ran. I ran all the way to the next city, I stayed by myself for about 2 weeks, stealing stuff from dollar stores, not something I m proud of, and as of 2 days ago, I decided to come back, because I knew youd be here."

Colin finished and I was almost in tears. "Colin, I had no idea. It had been so horrible since I heard you went missing." I leaned to him and hugged him for a long time.

"But where will you go now?" I asked.

"I dont know...maybe back to our secret spot?"

"No Colin the condition there is horrible..." I started to think... "What my grandma doesnt know wont hurt her.


	3. Pirates vs Sandlot take two

**Ch.1 **

**Baseballs make the world go round**

**Rachel's POV**

_Knock, knock…-pause-… knock, knock. _"Rachel!"

I opened my eyes and pulled my covers up to my chin, "Benny, it's 3:30 in the morning, we have school in a few hours." I tried to look annoyed but failed miserably as I saw his big brown eyes, tired, but sparkling at me none the less. I pulled up my window and stood back as Benny pulled himself through. I tucked my straight brown hair behind my ears and folded my arms across my chest. Benny sat on my bed, his normal spot, and I leaned against the windowsill.

"Don't pretend to be tired" Benny said as I stretched my arms above my head and yawned.

"Who's pretending?" I asked, "Tomorrow's the last day of school and I'm up at three thirty in the morning because you can't sleep." I said irritably.

"Tomorrow's the last day of school." Benny repeated, leaning back on my bed and folding his hands behind his head, "We'll be able to play at the Sandlot more."

"But that's not why you're here." I said and he nodded solemnly. Then, after a brief moment of silence he sat up straight.

"My parents are fighting again." He said and I turned my head towards his bedroom window across from mine. Sure enough, I heard yelling and a bang and a crash, I frowned. "Don't worry Benny," I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

He made an attempt at a smile and stood up, he put a hand on the back of his neck and said, "I should go," and he began walking towards the open window. I felt a tugging in my stomach.

"Benny?" he turned to face me, "You can crash here if you want." I said.

Benny smiled, "Thanks Ray." He said, he pulled up a chair from my desk and I threw him a pillow and a blanket. We fell asleep talking, me trying to calm him down, and him trying to explain his situation.

When I woke up the chair was empty. So I stood up and walked over to the chair, taking off the blanket and the pillow, there I found a note,

Ray-

Went to the lot, then home, see you at school.

-Benny.

Benny often visits during the night, especially when his parents are fighting, but his nightly visits are a secret, he comes late at night and leaves early in the morning. I smiled and added the note to my collection, then got dressed into a pair of jeans and one of Benny's baseball jerseys. He had lent me the jersey when he and the guys had thrown me into the pool at my 12th birthday party. I never gave it back, and he complained every time I wore it, though I knew he really didn't mind.

**A/N:** I'll update if you like it, if I don't get any good reviews then I'll just leave it at that… I know it's short, but this is kind of like a sample.

**Ch. 3**

**The Clouds All Look Like White Fluffy Baseballs**

**Benny's POV**

The eighth graders were intimidating, very intimidating. We were at power, the oldest in the whole school. We got the back of the bus, the big tables in the cafeteria, and a free period right after lunch. If this was eighth grade, high school was going to rock.

I waited on Rachel's front porch, tapping my foot impatiently against that hard concrete it was made out of. I was getting extremely annoyed. Rachel looked out the window and held up a finger, signaling 'One more minute.' I threw my hands in the air and turned away from the window, folding my arms across my chest. Rachel ran out the door, slipping one of her shoes on and nearly falling in the process, "Come on!" she said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me up the walkway away from her house, "We're going to miss the bus."

I rolled my eyes and smiled, you couldn't stay annoyed at her for long. When we got to the bus stop I realized what Rachel was wearing, "Hey that looks familiar." I said, tugging on the sleeve, "Since when is your name, 'The Jet'?"

She just smiled at me and said, "Hey, if it keeps Phillips off my back I'd wear your boxers."

This got a laugh out of the guys and we talked baseball until the bus came. We got on the bus and as usual, the back seat on the left was empty for me and Smalls, but the seat on the right held Phillips and one of his baseball jerks. Rachel usually sat in this seat, and since it was the last day of eighth grade, I wanted to sit by her.

"Get up Phillips." I said, grabbing the front of his shirt and standing him up.

"It's okay Benny I'll sit up front." Rachel said, and the bus jolted forward, so Rachel grabbed onto a seat for balance.

"No, you'll sit in the back of the bus with me like you always do." I said and Phillips sneered.

"The only way she's sitting back here is on my lap." He said, smiling and winking at Rachel.

Normally me and the guys would just laugh at Phillips' attempts, but I got really pissed off, so I slugged him, hard. Rachel gasped and everyone on the bus turned to face me. I knew I'd get into trouble if people saw it was me so I grabbed Rachel around the waist and pulled her into the seat where she ended up on my lap.

Phillips looked at me sourly and I knew I was going to pay for that later so I shivered slightly. I realized suddenly that Rachel was staring at me.

"I would've just sat up front." She said quietly, me and Smalls looked at her, then burst out laughing.

**Ch.3 – All is fair in love and baseball**

**Rachel's POV**

Phillips wouldn't dare tell anyone that Benny punched him, he'd look like a wimp, not to mention a rat. The school day started with the normal "last day of school assembly". Benny got a perfect attendance award, though that's not surprising.

The guys and I filed out of the auditorium and went our separate ways. Benny and I had AP chemistry, which we were both scraping D's in. Benny's lab partner is a girl named Alicia and my lab partner is a guy named Kyle. We shared a table because the school was running low on money. I felt bad for Alicia and Kyle, they did all the work and me and Benny just fooled around the whole time. That's why were getting D's, Alicia and Kyle weren't exactly smart.

Benny flicked me a note across the table, I caught it in my hand and looked at him, and he was grinning. I opened it up and it read;

Phillips is going to kill me.

I smirked and scribbled back;

Not if I can help it.

Benny looked across the table at me, cocking an eyebrow. He looked extremely cute when he did that. He winked at me and the bell rang, I grabbed my books and pushed in my stool, waiting for Benny to do the same.

He walked me all the way to English class in silence, which was unusual for him, so I got concerned.

"You okay?" I asked, clutching my books closer to my chest and stepping in front of him so he couldn't walk past me.

"Yeah fine." Benny said, he attempted to walk past me but I stuck my foot out in front of him. He stopped and looked at me, "What?" he asked.

"If you're worried about Phillips, don't be. He's a little munchkin, you could beat the shit out of him with one punch. He drops like a rock Benny just don't worry about it." I said. Benny nodded and I moved my foot so we could resume walking. "I'll see you at lunch." I said, as he dropped me off in front of my English class.

"Alright." He said, already halfway gone in the other direction, the bell rang, we were both late to class. I held my breath and stepped into the room.  
"Well, well Rachel, nice of you to join us." said Mr. Clements. "Please have a seat."

I blushed angrily and sat down in the back of the classroom, acknowledging Squints who sat at the table in front of me. I nodded at him as if to say, "I'm fine." And he nodded back.

I sat in English for a full hour, boring. I met the guys by my locker, where they always met. I stuffed all my books in there and looked at Benny, "Are we gonna go outside today?" I asked, as we began the walk to the cafeteria. I never ate lunch, I was busy watching the baseball games going on in the fields. I didn't play in those games because girls wore skirts to school and it wasn't exactly fun sliding in a skirt. Benny always played, along with the rest of the team.

I sat with the girls on the picnic tables, secretly watching the games. It was a half day, so school ended after lunch, for the rest of the summer. All the girls were talking about shoes and clothes and I watched the game. Benny began running for home until the third baseman threw it to the catcher, Benny was in a pickle. "Oh shit!" I yelled, jumping off the picnic table and running over to the field. By the time I got there, Benny ran against home plate, just as the bell rang for the end of the day. On the walk home, Ham was describing the game in full on detail and Benny was saying, "I know, we were there."

Ham was insisting on the fact that I wasn't there, but I said, "Ham, you know I'm watching every game, give it a rest alright."

**Ch. 4**

**Hormones Get in the Way of Third Base**

**Benny's POV**

"I'll see you at the Sandlot in fifteen minutes." I had said to all the guys, they had nodded, "Sure Benny," and went to their houses until it was only me and Rachel left.

"You still worried about Phillips?" she asked as we stopped in front of her house, she looked concerned.

"Nah, he's a munchkin, he falls like a rock." I repeated what she said before, smiling at her.

She smiled back at me, "See you in about ten minutes Benny." She said, then walked up to her house where her older brother opened the door, "Hey Benny!" he called, then I heard him say, "So how's your boyfriend?" to Rachel.

"Shut up." Rachel replied, walking into the house, her ponytail bouncing behind her.

"Hey Chris." I said, then I walked next door to my own house, the only person there was my little sister, Angela.

"Hey Benny." She said, looking up from the TV and her bowl of Froot Loops with no milk, "Where's Rachel?"

"At her house… where she lives." I said incredulously, looking at her suspiciously, "Why?"

"No reason." Angela replied. Girls were weird, even when they are ten. I shrugged and clambered up the stairs, then I changed into something more comfortable for baseball, put on a hat, grabbed my bat and my mitt, then clambered back down the stairs to see Rachel in my living room.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow also.

"That's a nice way to greet a person, what ever happened to, 'Hello, welcome to my humble home' and junk like that." She replied sarcastically.

I grinned, "Where's your mitt?" I asked, "And your hat? And why are you in a skirt." My grin faded.

"I can't play today Benny, I have dance." Rachel said, frowning, "That's okay isn't it?" she asked.

"But Dance is so…. Girly." I concluded, looking disappointed, "Can you show up after Dance?"

Rachel nodded, "If it's not to late." She said standing up, "I'll see you later Benny. Good luck," and she was gone. I watched her go with a frown on my face, "I didn't know she did dance."

"She doesn't." Angela said, standing up and turning off the TV, "She just said that."

"Why would she lie?" I asked, sitting down at the counter in the breakfast nook, looking at Angela.

"To hide something, Duh!" Angela said, then she left the kitchen and started up the stairs to her room, muttering something that sounded like, "Boys are so thick."


End file.
